Before you descend to the comments/clutter up my mentions about this, some context for what kind of cultural consumer I am: I would so much rather see some insane-concept Shakespeare than the classical-dress one. Which leads me to put a clarifying question to you, dear reader: what are you looking for in an adaptation? Are you looking for a one-to-one analogue? By that metric, The Shining is inarguably a terrible adaptation—but as I’ve said elsewhere and as I’m sure many would agree, Kubrick’s film is a great adaptation because it does a spectacular job adapting its source material, which is to say taking the original and transmuting it into something new, something different, and yet something that nevertheless feels of-a-piece. So it is with Fennell’s film! (Although, to be clear: I’m not here to tell you Wuthering Heights is an equivalent piece of film-making—it isn’t.)There was a lot of flack being flung at this Heights for being all vibes, but honestly, why not do that with an adaptation? Adapting a classic novel is always going to be a risk, because generations of people have read it and culturally it has become something everyone has a vague opinion about—so you’re always going to have people who are mad that it didn’t include X thing that they really cared deeply about.And Emily Brontë has always been the coolest (slash “weirdest“) of the Brontë sisters, the one onto whom you can project the most—and whose single book was resolutely cooler, sexier, stranger than the combined works of either of her sisters. So why not make a sumptuous Gothic feast of a film lensed through a Millennial’s memories of the covers of supermarket-checkout-line bodice-rippers they maybe wanted to be reading instead when they were first assigned the Brontës?Give me this kind of weirdo interpretation over yet-another-stuffy-period-piece any day! I’m going to remember some of the images from this film forever (the leeches! the houses, both of them! the very-Millay-esque piles of gin bottles!) while other aspects fade entirely—which is, funnily enough, exactly what has happened to me with the actual novel. (Drew Broussard)
A brand new production of Jane Eyre, based on Sally Cookson, Mike Akers and the original company's adaptation of the Charlotte Brontë novel, will come to the Mercury Theatre Colchester in September.Jane Eyre will be directed by Lily Dyble as a result of her winning the 2025 Royal Theatrical Support Trust Sir Peter Hall Director Award.The co-production, supported by a grant from the RTST, will premiere at the Mercury Theatre from 26 September to 10 October, before touring to Rose Theatre from 13 to 24 October, Northern Stage from 3 to 7 November and Storyhouse from 10 to 21 November. [...]Director, Lily Dyble says, “What I see at the heart of this story is courage in the face of the unknown. Jane Eyre reminds us of the risk and enormity of love, but also how uncertainty can breed hope, as well as fear; that we can choose to fiercely love each other and ourselves, even within chaos, and even when our old lives have been lost to the fire. I'm thrilled to be bringing Jane's story to audiences across England this autumn, with the support of four wonderful venues and the RTST.”Artistic Director of Mercury Theatre, Natasha Rickman says, “We are absolutely delighted to be working with Lily Dyble, who is a director of real vision and talent. We are thrilled also to be co-producing this with our friends at the Rose, Storyhouse and Northern Stage, and to be collaborating with the brilliant RTST; the Sir Peter Hall Director Award spotlights so much extraordinary talent throughout their process each year, and it was a joy to meet so many brilliant artists. I cannot wait to see Lily's staging of this epic and gripping story and to share it with audiences across the country, alongside our co-producers.” (Stephi Wild)
There’s a certain pull to stories that take something familiar and rework it into something new. With The Chateau on Sunset, Natasha Lester has taken Jane Eyre and placed it inside one of Hollywood’s most infamous hotels, the Chateau Marmont. The result leans into the glamour of the era while exposing what sat behind it. [...]The idea did not begin in Los Angeles. It came to her on a train in Italy.“I was sitting on a train to Florence, thinking about books I’d enjoyed,” Lester says. “Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano was one, which is loosely based on Little Women. Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver was another. Suddenly the idea popped into my head as I looked out at the Northern Italian countryside. What if I did something like that with one of my favourite books, Jane Eyre?”That moment shaped the direction of the novel. It also changed how she approached the story. She started with a literary foundation and asked what might happen if it unfolded in a place defined by fame, power and secrecy.Her connection to Jane Eyre runs deeper than admiration. It is tied to what she believes the original heroine never truly received.“Jane Eyre was a woman who yearned for liberty. She looked at the horizon and longed to go beyond it,” Lester says. “The ending is romantically satisfying, but she never really got what she most wanted. That didn’t seem fair.”That sense of unfinished business became central to the novel.“I wanted to write a story where Jane got both a romantically satisfying and a personally satisfying ending. An ending that such a great heroine deserved.”The Chateau Marmont plays a strong role in the story, and its presence came about unexpectedly.“I was struggling to find the voice of the story,” she says. “I started handwriting pieces just to see where my imagination would take me. In one of those, the Marmont took on a voice and a sense of itself. I loved it.”From there, the hotel developed into something that feels watchful, holding onto the secrets of the people who pass through it. That reflects the real history of the Marmont, long associated with excess and scandal.Researching Hollywood’s Golden Age revealed a version of the era that contrasts sharply with its polished image.“There was a lot of ugliness beneath the glamour,” Lester says. “Women were fighting every day against a very male-controlled studio system that wanted to take away their power.”That tension carries through the novel, particularly in how women were labelled, controlled and often silenced. Many of those stories were hidden or reframed at the time. (Emily Darlow)
No visit to the Peaks would be complete without a stop at the village of Hathersage, home to a heated open-air pool. It’s an idyllic village with a literacy legacy; its rugged landscapes inspired Jane Eyre (there’s even a Jane Eyre walking trail) (Jake Hall)
A plague of beetles have caused havoc for visitors flocking to the village made famous by classic novel turned current blockbuster Wuthering Heights. Swarms of the flying insects created mayhem when they descended on the picturesque village of Haworth where people travel from all over the world to visit the Parsonage where the Brontë sisters Emily, Charlotte and Anne lived.The aggressive beetles descended during last week’s warm weather converging on the mass of visitors making a homage to the historic West Yorkshire village, and now museum bosses and hospitality venues are bracing themselves for more summer swarms with warmer weather again on the horizon. According to one member of staff at the Parsonage the insects “came out of nowhere” on Wednesday lunchtime and were the worst he had ever experienced. He told people being as they queued outside the venue: “I was in the adjacent fields this morning and they were not there then, but suddenly around lunchtime they just appeared. There are lots of fields around so flies insects are not unusual but I’ve never known anything quite like this.”One visitor Amelie, 21, from Edinburgh told how she had been enjoying al fresco lunch with her family on a café on the main street when they were suddenly “bombarded.”She said: “We’d just found a lovely sunny spot and had just ordered our lunch when I spotted a beetle land on my drink glass. Then another landed, and another, and then I started feeling them on my neck, on my arms and on my legs. They were everywhere and by the time our meal arrived, we and everyone around us were swatting away like mad.“But it got even worse once we joined the queue for the Parsonage and was so bad at one stage we considered abandoning our trip. It was better once we got inside, but they had found their way inside everyone’s clothing and it was pretty horrible to be honest. We were still finding them hours after we left Haworth – they seemed pretty invincible bugs but at least they didn’t bite. I hope it’s not a sign of things to come this summer.”Katherine Hill, 53, from Leeds said: "It was such a beautiful spring day in one of my favourite places to visit. But the beetles caused mayhem, people were pulling them out of their shoes, their clothing, their hair and their ears. They were so small and there was just no escape - even inside the museum." (Paul Jeeves)
by Dong XiThe Explicator, 1–7. httsp://doi.org/10.1080/00144940.2026.2630258The red-room episode in Jane Eyre¹ has long been recognized as one of the novel's most disturbing scenes. Critical discussions have variously approached it as formative psychological trauma (Gilbert and Gubar 336–71), feminist "prison" imagery (Armstrong 59–95; Showalter 100–30), or Gothic spectacle (Milbank 140–57). These readings converge in treating the episode as an origin point whose significance lies in its psychological aftereffects. Within such interpretations, earlier confinement is the perfective and superseded past, and Jane's maturation gradually unfolds toward autonomy.²While these interpretations persuasively account for the red-room's psychological and symbolic force, the present article shifts the critical focus from what the episode signifies to how it temporally operates, arguing that the red-room functions not as a completed origin but as a grammar of unfinished time sustained and reproduced through syntax.³Jane Eyre repeatedly resists linear containment. The red-room is not a concluded episode safely lodged in the past. Instead, the novel continually reactivates the conditions of the red-room through grammatical structures that suspend temporal resolution. Across the novel, Brontë reproduces this temporal logic, recasting the red-room from a traumatic origin into a governing structure of unfinished time—what this article terms stillness.
After delivering an impressive $32.8 million domestic opening, Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi’s steamy romance went on to gross $84 million in North America. It currently ranks as the sixth-highest-grossing release of 2026 domestically, as per Box Office Mojo. Following its U.S. theatrical debut on February 13, the romantic drama effectively ended its North American run on Thursday (April 9), when it collected $8k across 58 locations. That said, the film is still playing in some international markets. [...]Milestone No.1 – $250 Million Worldwide TotalIn addition to its $84 million domestic haul, the film earned $156.4 million from overseas markets, which resulted in a worldwide total of $240.4 million. This means Wuthering Heights is still short of around $9.6 million to reach the $250 million worldwide benchmark. As it is already nearing the end of its ongoing run, it appears unlikely that it will be able to achieve this milestone.Wuthering Heights – Box Office SummaryNorth America: $84 millionInternational: $156.4 millionWorldwide: $240.4 millionMilestone No.2 – $50 Million Theatrical SurplusSince Wuthering Heights was made on an estimated production budget of $80 million, it needed to earn $200 million globally to break even at the box office, using the 2.5x multiplier rule. Based on this calculation, the film has generated a theatrical surplus of $40.4 million. However, reaching the $50 million theatrical surplus mark seems to be unlikely at this stage.Milestone No.3 – All-Time Top 1000 Domestic ChartTo break into the all-time top 1000 films at the domestic box office, Wuthering Heights needed to surpass Peter Pan’s $87.4 million North American total. To reach that milestone, it needs to bring in an additional $3.4 million domestically. However, since the film has effectively ended its original domestic run, it won’t be able to reach that target now. (Pranshu Awasthi)
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Brontë Birthplace EventsDate: Tuesday 14 April 2026 via Zoom at 18.30In 1842, a few years before becoming bestselling authors, Charlotte and Emily Brontë travelled to Brussels to improve their French. For Charlotte, her two years as a pupil and then teacher at the Pensionnat Heger were pivotal for her, both as a writer and personally. Life in a foreign city and the influence of her literature teacher Constantin Heger, for whom she developed something of an obsession, shaped her intellectually and emotionally and gave birth to two novels, Villette and The Professor. Drawing on Charlotte’s letters and novels, Helen MacEwan will look at her experiences in the Belgian capital -both positive and negative – and how these fed into her writings.Helen MacEwan is a retired translator and former teacher who has lived in Brussels for the last 20 years. Shortly after moving to the Belgian capital, she re-read Villette and became fascinated in Charlotte and Emily’s time in the city and the novels that came out of it. Helen is the author of The Brontës in Brussels and of Through Belgian Eyes: Charlotte Brontë’s Troubled Brussels Legacy. She has also written the life of Winifred Gérin, the renowned Brontë biographer. Her book Down the Belliard Steps: Discovering the Brontës in Brussels recounts her adventures as founder of the Brussels Brontë Group, which has been promoting interest in the Brontës through talks and guided walks since 2006.
Wuthering Heights succumbs under the pressure of new releases and ends its theatrical run at the box office in North America after over a month [sic: nearly two months]. The film ended its theatrical run on its 8th Thursday as it lost its last few theatres in North America. The film is being played in a few markets overseas. [...]According to trade analyst Luiz Fernando‘s report, Wuthering Heights has concluded its box office journey at the North American box office. It grossed just 8k on its 8th and final Thursday over the last 58 theaters still playing it. The film’s domestic total reached $84 million, bringing its theatrical run to an end. Wuthering Heights is concluding its box-office run as 2026’s 6th-highest-grossing film domestically.The period drama starring Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi collected $156.4 million at the overseas box office. It is still running in a few overseas markets. Allied to the $84 million domestic cume, the movie’s worldwide collection stands at $240.4 million. It will end its global run below the $250 million milestone. It is still the 5th-highest-grossing film of 2026 and the highest-grossing romance drama of the year. [...]Box office summaryDomestic – $84.0 millionInternational – $156.4 millionWorldwide – $240.4 million (Esita Mallik)
Una pregunta propia de una página encrespada de Dostoyevski, de una maraña concebida por la más espesa de las Brontë. (Elisa Victoria) (Translation)
Kristianne KalataStudies in the Novel, Johns Hopkins University Press, Volume 58, Number 1, Spring 2026This essay reads Charlotte Brontë’s Shirley(1849) through the lens of queer narrative theory, positioning Brontë’s work as formative in developing the concept of the androgynous mind that was coined by S.T. Coleridge in Table Talk(1835) and deliberated upon by Virginia Woolf in A Room of One’s Own(1929). Through moments of hypothetical focalization, the novel disrupts gendered identities and social expectations, suggesting its author’s conscious efforts to occupy the androgynous mind and to consider the limits and possibilities of its application to embodied behaviors. Anticipating Woolf’s frustration over the limits of androgynous thinking in a society that values gendered embodiment, Brontë experiments with narration in ways that underscore the distinction between social and self-perceptions of gender, a distinction that plays out not only at the levels of author, narrator, and character, but also in past and present readers’ reviews of the text.
4. Wuthering HeightsEmerald Fennell's fearless reinvention of Emily Brontë's 1847 novel is not for Brontë purists, but it is an exhilarating take on the book and a striking example of Fennell's typical artistry and daring. Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi are fiery as Cathy and Heathcliff, the classic lovers made for each other but separated by class. Their connection is at once frankly sexual, romantic and caustic in the cruelty they often display toward each other. With that cruelty, Fennell restores the vehemence often overlooked in Brontë adaptations. Departing from prettified period pieces, the film's visual style is an enticing kaleidoscope of colour and fashion. Fennell drops in some comic moments, and at times dares to be over the top (Heathcliff on horseback, Elordi's bad wig flying in the wind) but its excesses are a small price to pay for such ambition. However much Fennell toys with the details – and why not? the book still exists – she captures the essential enduring passion of Wuthering Heights and its class-bound time. (Caryn James)
The classic novel comes to life on the big screen once again, this time from Promising Young Woman and Saltburn director Emerald Fennell, and with Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi in the lead roles. Fennell, an Academy Award winner for her work on Promising Young Woman, has both big fans and big detractors at this point—but her take her, while book purists haven't been thrilled, is a big, visually stunning epic romance. Robbie and Elordi are both up to the task as well, bringing a charged energy to roles that really need it. Alison Oliver, who recently shined on HBO's Task, is another major highlight in a supporting role. An original soundtrack from Charli XCX helps to set the anachronistic mood and feels like a real cherry on top. (Evan Romano)
Major improvements to a public footpath used by thousands of visitors every year have been completed in Haworth.The footpath, which links Weavers Hill car park with Main Street, had become uneven and hazardous but has now been tarmacked to provide a more accessible surface.Thousands of people visit Haworth every year from across the globe to walk in the footsteps of the Brontë sisters, who lived in the town in the early 19th Century.A Bradford Council spokesperson said: "This upgraded footpath strengthens an important link in the heart of Haworth, supporting a safer and more inclusive access for those who visit and enjoy this much-loved village."The path had become unsafe due to root damage from several trees, as well as debris and broken fencing that had started to encroach on to the path and the overhead trees, which were affected by Ash Dieback.Bradford Council removed the unsafe trees and collaborated with local allotment tenants and the tenant of the neighbouring paddock to clear the path's border creating a 5ft (1.5m) wide route.The work was paid for with money from the West Yorkshire Combined Authority's City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement. (Grace Wood)
He was born in 1825 and for most of his life lived in a cottage at Buckley Green, near Stanbury.His loom was in the room upstairs, as it had more windows and he needed as much light as possible to see when weaving. It was also where he slept, and the bed end almost rested against the loom.He bought his own warp, carried it home over his shoulder and set it up on the loom by tying each warp thread on to those on the previous one. Once a new warp had been ‘gated’, he would then prepare the weft. This was bought in hanks, and he wound it onto pirns to go in his shuttles.One day a young man called Albert Kay, from Nelson in Lancashire, called at Timmy Feather’s cottage in Buckley Green. An account of his visit was subsequently reported in the Nelson Leader.Timmy was then in his 80s and as he was the last handloom weaver in the district, had become something of a celebrity. People often called and regularly asked to see his handloom and watch him weave. Albert was no exception and Timmy invited him upstairs to look at the loom. However, it was Sunday and being the Sabbath he said “I wod ’ave woven yer a bit of it had it bin a wark day but I ne’er weave at Sunday.”Returning downstairs Albert, no doubt disappointed, asked him if he remembered the Brontës. “Knew ’em all,” he replied. “I was baptised wi’ old Patrick. My mother used to tell me that when he splashed watter on my face I bawled like a cawf. Aye and I went to school in’t lane there beside churchyard and were taught wi’ Charlotte.”Asked what he thought about her, he said: “Well she was a little bit of a thing, about size o’ six penneth o’ copper. A teeny, little woman wi’ least hands that I’ve ever seen. And when it was said the parson’s Charlotte had written a printed book nobody believed it a first until fine folk in carriages came up cobbles in village street.“Aye and I knew Emily, but I never liked her. She were taller and darker than the others and she would pass yer in street and never look at yer, just as if you were a stone. I used to pass her on’t moor bottom when I was going to Haworth, but she never turned her head sideways. She always seemed to be thinking and muttering to hersel’.“Lass I liked best wer Anne, she allus had a smile and a word for a child or dog. But like ’em all she faded away. Did I know Branwell, ye ask? Aye, I’ve supped ale with him and John Brown in’t Black Bull, aye mony a time. He finished up wild, but everybody liked him. Last time I saw him in’t street his hair were flying and he looked demented. Poor Branwell – his was a wasted life.“Aye, I remember all to the last. I saw Charlotte that day when she came out to be wed in’t church, and she looked like a lily. I saw her carried out of t’old parsonage feet first not long after. And there weren’t many dry eyes in Haworth that day.“Last of all, I used to see old Patrick, lonely and desolate standing up in’t pulpit, while down below, lay his wife and five childer. It was a pathetic sight.”Old Timmy died at his cottage in 1910 and is buried in Haworth churchyard alongside the path that passes through it from the old school in Church Street. (Robin Longbottom)
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by Deborah WeissManchester University PressISBN: 9781526175717November 2024Women and madness in the early Romantic novel returns madness to a central role in feminist literary criticism through an updated exploration of hysteria, melancholia, and love-madness in novels by Mary Wollstonecraft, Eliza Fenwick, Mary Hays, Maria Edgeworth, and Amelia Opie. This book argues that these early Romantic-period novelists revised medical and popular sentimental models for female madness that made inherent female weakness and the aberrant female body responsible for women's mental afflictions. The book explores how the more radical authors - Wollstonecraft, Fenwick and Hays - blamed men and patriarchal structures of control for their characters' hysteria and melancholia, while the more mainstream writers - Edgeworth and Opie - located causality in less gendered and less victimized accounts. Taken as a whole, the book makes a powerful case for focusing on women's mental health in eighteenth- and nineteenth- century literary criticism.
Extensive repair works have been proposed for Oakwell Hall to remedy damage and ensure its longevity.The Grade-I Listed Elizabethan manor house, located to the northwest of Birstall, dates back to 1583 and is set in period gardens within a 110-acre country park. The hall was visited by Charlotte Brontë in the 1830s and was the inspiration behind 'Fieldhead' in her 1849 novel 'Shirley'. It is now a museum furnished as a family home of the 1690s which is owned and run by Kirklees Council.The local authority is seeking Listed Building Consent to carry out repairs to the fabric of the building to ensure it is fit to operate for years to come. The council has appointed AHR Building Consultancy to carry out the works that will “restore damaged and age-related issues” and ensure Oakwell Hall can remain open to the visiting public, according to a supporting statement.Several issues need to be addressed, including those regarding structural movement, water ingress and backlog maintenance issues primarily affecting the external fabric of the building. Some internal areas will also be impacted where either movement has affected the structure due to plumbing leaks, or wear and tear.As a result, works would include the removal of the existing roof to allow for the installation of a bat-friendly, modern breather membrane to shield the building from water ingress. The existing stone slate roof would then be re-laid, and gutters and down pipes replaced. Repairs would also be made to the external stone, existing lead glazing, and defective areas of the underground drainage system.A new, accessible toilet would be installed at ground floor level to the rear of the property, with its walls positioned to limit the impact on the existing historical structure. The existing first floor male and female toilets, which were a later addition, would be fully removed as part of the development.The supporting Design and Access Statement put together by AHR Building Consultancy says: “The proposals detailed in this statement have been developed to minimise the continuing deterioration of the building and to provide restorative repairs to ensure the upkeep of the building is retained.“Our proposals have been developed with a core aim to protect the existing building in character and appearance and with the aim of restorative repairs to the roof and external walls whilst also improving the facilities for visitors through the provision of an accessible toilet at ground floor level.“The works are confined to the building and will therefore have no impact on the wider building’s environment and external grounds.”A target date for a decision to be made was set for Wednesday, (April 8), though this is yet to be made, according to Kirklees’ planning portal. (Abigail Marlow)
Fri 10 April, 11am – 3pmBrontë Event Space at the Old SchoolroomThe Brontës didn’t just write wonderful stories; they also loved to spend time sketching and making amazing, tiny books. They also sewed a lot, but maybe not by choice…Join us to try your hand at one of the Brontës’ other pastimes!
West Lane Baptist Chapel, HaworthThe Brontës created fantastical worlds of Gondal and Angria, drawing inspiration from real life heroes, folktales as well as the wild moors that surrounded their home.Join us as we welcome artists and authors Wendy and Brian Froud to the Brontë Parsonage Museum for a truly magical afternoon.From their work on iconic films such as The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth to their wondrous books on pressed fairies and trolls, we will be discussing the art of world building, creating characters, drawing from nature and finding positivity through creativity.
Do book-to-film adaptations need to remain entirely faithful to their original source? I’m an English literature major and a classical literature fan; I used to answer with a resounding yes. Now, I’m not entirely sure. [...]It seems the newest adaptation of Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights by Emerald Fennell garnered similar reactions. Most notably, the decision to cast Jacob Elordi outraged as the role of Heathcliff outraged loyalists of the book, who is described in the novel as “dark-skinned.” Adding fuel to the fire were complaints regarding the removal of major plot sections and thematics, leaving behind only a vague memory of the original text.I used to believe you could measure the quality of a book-to-film adaptation by judging how faithfully it stuck to the source material. I admit, there's something extremely gratifying as a fan of a novel to watch scenes on screen that seem practically pulled directly from your imagination. [...]We need to make a distinction between movies aiming to present a faithful account of a novel, versus one merely inspired by a story: an adaptation versus a reimagining.There are countless adaptations of Wuthering Heights, but Fennell makes clear that her addition is not meant to be a replica at all, but rather a transformation. She told W magazine the quotation marks surrounding her title are an effort “to communicate as early as possible that [the film] could only ever be an attempt to take a tiny piece of the book and make sense of it.” While her film is informed by Brontë's novel, Fennell only wanted to depict her personal reaction to it: “I could only take my experience of it and try to translate it.” Fennell felt that it was impossible to adapt such a dense book in full. “I can't say I'm making Wuthering Heights. It’s not possible. What I can say is I’m making a version of it,” she said in a January interview. Fennell is reimagining the story and decidedly not recreating it. What good is it to judge the film as though it were?The film brings Fennell’s adolescent fantasies to life. She argues that “you can only ever make the movie that you sort of imagined yourself when you read it.” Art is influenced by a multitude of forces. Those include the author’s personal interests and experiences, as well as creations that came before it. Fennell explains that the film reflects her fantasies she had while reading the novel as a young girl. On the casting of Heathcliff, she recounts how she was “struck by how much [Jacob Elordi] looked like Heathcliff on the cover of my … cheap … paperback.” She created a world that didn’t cater to fans but to her younger self. Of course, then, the film felt void of anything except the romance between Cathy and Heathcliff. Clearly, Fennell was captivated by the portrayal of an erotic yet toxic love, and not so much by the nuances pertaining to class and culture.This is not to say that the source material carries no weight in its being the “original.” However, to demand a film be faithful to the book would assume that novels require an objective reading. I counter this notion with reader-response theory, which argues that a work gains meaning from the reader’s analysis rather than from the author. A novel’s significance becomes determined by readers’ unique experiences and perceptions. Fennell’s interpretation of Wuthering Heights is an example of how creators take a story and reimagine it according to a person’s singular vision and influences. [...]Fennell is transforming to even greater extremes, as she removes large chunks of the novel and condenses the narrative to focus solely on romance. However, these classics have remained so prominent because of their mutability; whether an adaptation or reimagining, a film cannot reflect one “correct” interpretation of a novel. As a fellow reader, Fennell has creative freedom to display the meaning she imposed on the novel.While we can (and should) raise our eyebrows at how Fennell’s film overlooked such a defining aspect of a story as Heathcliff’s identity, we must also accept the movie for what it is: a blockbuster that uses one of the most famous literary romances as its base, but not as its example.To only judge a movie on its closeness to the source material prevents us from truly analyzing films as creative and commercial entities. Yes, “Wuthering Heights” is a bodice-ripping blockbuster with two lead actors whom we’ve all grown tired of seeing. But that doesn’t mean it is void of creative and artistic vision.Similarly to her last film Saltburn, “Wuthering Heights” places heavy emphasis on extravagant and provocative visuals. The film’s tactile elements evoked a “physical feeling” both disturbing and immersive, such as the fireplace made out of hands and the bedroom walls that look like Cathy’s (Margot Robbie’s) skin down to the freckles and veins. I found the Victorian hairwork title sequence particularly creepy and bizarre. In a promotional video, Fennell reveals that it actually incorporates “some of Margot’s and Jacob’s actual hair,” to make the sequence “feel completely human.” The literal physicality incorporated into the design evokes a visceral disgust toward humanity. That was the intention. Neither Cathy nor Heathcliff is morally good, and their moments of wickedness are only further emphasized by these disgustingly human visuals.The costumes are likewise excessively extravagant. Designer Jacqueline Durran created pieces over-the-top and not adhering to any specific time period. Fennell told W the film’s “starting point is imagining you’re a young girl who doesn't really know what the Victorian or Georgian eras look like.” Her personal interpretation focuses on feeling above all. Emotion comes from visual indicators, rather than the story itself; depth of plot becomes secondary to the visual medium.If a film is only critiqued in comparison to the novel, we risk underanalyzing the artistic and narrative elements that make it a unique work. Creative freedom allows for innovation. Although tempting, it is unproductive to criticize filmmakers who expand beyond the original source.I was struck by how much “Wuthering Heights” diverged from Brontë’s novel. But it was clear that it had no intention of being a faithful adaptation. The movie was different from the book, but both are distinct works with different artistic intentions. There are still elements of “Wuthering Heights” and Frankenstein I do not like, but I’m expanding my view to see beyond the page. The films are not replacements for the novels. They only reflect our unique responses to them.This doesn’t mean that us literature fanatics are doomed to be left unfulfilled by every classic adaptation that comes out. Instead, we can utilize our critical understanding of literature to analyze how filmmakers reimagine the texts. Engaging in nuanced discourse around classic stories keeps narratives alive. Stories morph and shift with each retelling, just like our interpretations do. Maybe the book is still better than the movie, but the movie doesn’t need to be the book. (Fiona Pulchny)
With the recent release of Emerald Fennell’s adaptation of Wuthering Heights, and all the controversy surrounding the lack of faith to Brontë’s original material, it got me wondering. Who else has attempted an adaptation of classic literature, only for it to completely flop? [...]Wuthering Heights has had this same issue of erasure. As I’m sure that many of you now know, as this discourse has dominated my feed for the past two months, Heathcliff is explicitly framed as non-white, meaning the casting choice of Jacob Elordi is incredibly questionable. Although the title is put in quotation marks, to change such an important part of the novel should not be casually brushed aside. [...]Fennell’s Wuthering Heights may not have been pitched as a direct adaptation, and is promoted as her own interpretation, but it’s undoubtedly a questionable one. Replacing well-crafted prose about class, race and abuse with awkward sex between two people with poor chemistry is certainly a choice. It screams of ignorance. She didn’t need to use the IP to write a moody, sensual script set in gloomy hills, yet she chose to frame this as an adaptation. It could have just been an original title.When you tell your audience that you’re adapting a famed, well-beloved piece of classical literature, and completely change half of the novel’s themes, characterisation and plot, you have to expect them to be upset, and rightfully so. These adaptations can stretch too far into poor writing, disregard for respected, well-done material, and create the same thought in everyone’s mind – if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. (Heidi Lewis)
Residents can now have their say on controversial plans to build one of the country's biggest windfarms overlooking Brontë Country.Calderdale Energy Park has opened a statutory public consultation into plans to set up 34 enormous turbines on moorland at Walshaw Moor, above Hebden Bridge. A series of in-person consultation events will take place at six locations in Bradford, Calderdale, and Lancashire are set to take place before the consultation closes on Wednesday, June 10.Critics say developers are rushing the process and ignored requests from Calderdale and Bradford Councils to postpone the consultation until after May's local elections.The plans have already sparked widespread concern and opposition over fears of damage to protected peat bogs, harm to wildlife, heightened flood risk, and the release of stored carbon. Campaigners also say the turbines would be detrimental to the landscape, heritage and tourism, disrupt access routes, generate significant construction traffic, and deliver minimal local benefit, despite assurances of green energy production.Calderdale Energy Park has confirmed that the number of turbines has been reduced from 41 to 34, asserting that the 240 megawatt (MW) project represents a vital opportunity to generate sufficient clean energy to power more than double the number of households in Calderdale.Calderdale Energy Park would have the capacity to generate sufficient electricity to power roughly 198,000 homes and cut national CO2 emissions by approximately 2.9 million tonnes throughout the wind farm's operational lifespan, according to proponents. The firm's plans also feature a designated Community Benefit Fund valued at £1.2million annually, offering financial backing for local groups and initiatives, they state.The company said it is now inviting public opinion and providing opportunities for additional feedback. It said feedback from an earlier, non-statutory consultation has influenced the proposals, including the decrease in turbine numbers.A fresh connection point at Bradford West substation has also been unveiled by the firm – it was previously announced that four connection points are planned altogether.Calderdale Council serves as a consultee and is classified as the "host" authority, but will not determine the application because it is being handled as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project. The Planning Inspectorate will scrutinise evidence, consider arguments and deliver a recommendation, but the ultimate approval or rejection will be decided at national Government level by the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero. (Elizabeth Mackley and John Greenwood)
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Brontë: A Performanceby Guiem Soldevila
Fri 10 Apr, 7:00pmSt Michael’s and All Angels Church, HaworthImmerse yourself in the Brontës' poetry like never before. Join us for this special concert of Guiem Soldevila’s latest album Brontë performed against the beautiful backdrop of St Michael’s and All Angels in Haworth, where the Brontë family vault is situated.Guiem Soldevila performs alongside vocalists Clara Gorrias and Neus Ferri, with spoken narration by Carme Cloquells and dance by Gêliah. All five artists are from Menorca, bringing together music, voice, word and movement in a shared creative journey.The programme includes musical interpretations of twelve poems: six by Emily Brontë, three by Anne Brontë and three by Charlotte Brontë. Drawing on folk influences, enriched with classical arrangements, this event invites audiences to rediscover the Brontë sisters’ poetry in a deeply moving and contemporary way.
Calderdale Energy Park is applying to construct 34 turbines on Walshaw Moor, between Hebden Bridge and Haworth - the village associated with Brontë tourism.As a nine-week public consultation begins, chief executive Christian Egal told objectors that the development would provide "cheap, reliable and stable" energy.Campaigners who oppose the plans for the West Yorkshire moorland said that the wind farm would turn the scenic area into an "industrial complex".The South Pennine moors and Pennine Way have long been associated with writers Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontë, who were raised at the parsonage in Haworth, now a museum, in the 1840s.Speaking about the literary tourists, Egal said: "They will still come. Of course the turbines will be visible, but it will not affect the number of people visiting Top Withens. We expect the impact on the landscape to be moderate and acceptable for this area."Top Withens is a ruined farmhouse that is thought to be the inspiration for Emily Bronte's 1847 novel Wuthering Heights.Egal added: "Wuthering is an old Norse word that means "high winds", so it's not surprising that the site is very suitable for a wind farm." (Spencer Stokes)
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Wed 8 April, 11am – 4pmBrontë Event Space at the Old SchoolroomCelebrate spring at the Brontë Parsonage Museum! With local artist Rachel Lee, use sustainable natural materials and create your own lovely miniature garden to take home with you.
Online via zoomSome of the most intriguing items in our collection are those made from the Brontës' hair. During the Victorian era hair was often weaved into jewellery for remembrance. Join us for this online event with conceptual artist and historian Donna Lowson, as she guides us through the history of Victorian hairwork and shows us the process of creating hair jewellery. There will also be an opportunity to ask any questions you may have.Donna Lowson is an artist, collector, and former hairdresser whose practice centres on working with human hair to uncover the stories embedded within it. Drawing on Georgian and Victorian hairwork, the 19th-century practice of creating jewellery and keepsakes from human hair, she uses making as a research method to uncover marginalised craft traditions and bring them into contemporary practice. Donna has collaborated with Bankfield Museum, contributing demonstrations and workshops as part of “In Loving Memory,” and ongoing museum collection study visits and hands-on historical research inform her work. She leads workshops that invite participants to experience the cultural, material, and historical significance of hair firsthand.
The Banagher Brontë Group is preparing to celebrate Charlotte Brontë's birthday on Saturday, April 18, in Crank House, Main Street, Banagher, commencing at 3.30pm.The main event of the afternoon will be the world premiere of Brontës: Love and Honour, a melodic tribute to the celebrated 19th century Brontë family of Yorkshire.This cycle of ten studio-recorded songs was written by the well-known composer Michael O'Dowd and his wife, Christine. The cycle relates the joys and sorrows of the family in music and lyrics with linking dialogue and illustrations to provide ambience and clarity.Organisers say this will be a truly delightful and enchanting experience for all attending.The afternoon will also include a 'Miscellany for Charlotte', a session of readings created or chosen by members of the group and others wishing to do so.Following a series of creative writing sessions, a selection of new writings, including poems by pupils from sixth class in St Rynagh's Primary School, are ready for the celebrations.
In the semifinals, Heathcliff and Edward Rochester were eliminated, depriving us of any Brontë sisters in the final round and leaving a championship matchup between Dorian Gray and George Wickham. (Evander James Reyes)
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Wednesday 8 April 2026Performance 1Doors open: 6.30pmPerformance starts: 7.00pm – 7.45pmPerformance 2Doors open: 7.45pmPerformance starts: 8.15pm – 9.00pmThe Brontë Birthplace is delighted to welcome internationally acclaimed Menorcan musician Guiem Soldevila for a rare and intimate recital of Brontë Poems set to music.Guiem has created original musical settings for twelve poems written by Charlotte, Emily and Anne Brontë, transforming their words into a moving performance of voice, piano and instrumental accompaniment. The recital also features expressive contemporary dance, carefully adapted to suit the unique and intimate setting of the Birthplace.Guiem will be performing voice, piano & guitar is accompanied by:Clara Gorrias on voice & fluteNeus Ferri on voice & guitarGeliah performing danceCarme Cloquells performing narrationThese performances will take place inside the café of the very house where the Brontë sisters were born, offering audiences a deeply atmospheric way to experience their poetry in song.To preserve the intimacy of the evening, each performance is limited to just 20 guests.
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Between Two Books (Florence Welch): ‘Villette’ by Charlotte Brontë
Did you know that Florence Welch has a book club? The Florence and the Machine singer periodically shares her book picks with her Between Two Books book club. This season’s pick in Villette by Charlotte Brontë. This lesser-known title from the author of Jane Eyre follows a young 19th-century woman as she leave England to take a teaching job in Belgium.
Villette is “an autobiographical study of solitude and unrequited love,” noted the Between Two Books Instagram. (Megan Elliott)
7. The married Belgian professor Constantin Heger inspired which character in the novel Jane Eyre? (Olav Bjortomt)
In a since-deleted post, the same X user also uploaded a screenshot to the platform of a text conversation with an “industry insider” who alleged that two songs on Charli’s Wuthering Heights album were “ripped” from Ferreira demos dating back to 2018 and 2015. Ferreira responded to those claims via Instagram comments as well, sharing, “Your industry ‘insider’ is wrong. Close but wrong…It isn’t worth the trouble bc I know how the world works.”‘Ferreira is, however, credited as a featured artist, co-writer and vocal producer on Wuthering Heights track “Eyes of the World.” (...)When asked for comment, her management team shared the following statement with Billboard: (...)“Ahead of the Wuthering Heights album release, a standard review process was conducted on a small number of tracks from the album, including fragments of material originating from earlier sessions. This process involved managers, legal representatives, artists and producers, and included a thorough review of archival materials and demo recordings. (Lyndsey Havens)
Fennell tan sólo se interesó en adaptar medio libro y a unos pocos de sus personajes, pero no perdió oportunidad para sembrar sugerencias eróticas visuales y auditivas, así como insinuaciones de bondage y S&M. Lamentablemente, más que una obra estimulante, nos conduce por el terreno del fan fiction calentón, ese universo de fantasías juveniles o amateurs, a la vez morbosas y puritanas, desahogo sin literatura, “plagio” legitimizado y cursilería masturbatoria desenfrenada. (...)Este ejercicio de estilo muestra una obsesión física muy oportuna en tiempos de looksmaxxing, en que todo mundo es bello y nadie quiere tener sexo (aun cuando lo tengan en exceso). Pero lo importante es que nos obliga a preguntarnos qué significa y para qué sirve una adaptación de la literatura al cine (especialmente al tratarse de un clásico). Y la respuesta tal vez es que sirve para ayudarnos a diferenciar el melodrama de la tragedia. (Naief Yehya) (Translation)
On Wednesday, 8 April at 6.30pm, the Boiardo cinema theatre in Scandiano (RE, Italy) will host a special screening of Wuthering Heights 2026, where the audience is invited to knit along, with dimmed lights to keep needles and eyes busy at once. The initiative grew out of a Friday knitting group led by Katia Tosi accoding to Il Resto di Carlino.
I loved Charlotte Brontë’s Wuthering Heights (sic). It’s a classic. I love a dramatic love story and it’s the ultimate bad love story. I love its imagery and its language, the way land is used to depict emotions. I was a cool kid that was with a gang who were robbing cars but reading Wuthering Heights at the end of the day, but I couldn’t tell them. You can't smoke your smokes at the back of the bike sheds while you're reading Charlotte Brontë (sic again).
Teasing becomes taunting, care becomes control and sexy times on the sofa become furious spats over Christmas presents (“You gave me a brooch made of teeth, Albert!”). The relationship is coercive, yes, but perhaps also co-dependent: Victoria’s panic keeps her obedient. A scene in which she reads from Jane Eyre signals the gothic fate which, [Daisy] Goodwin imagines, Albert might have planned for her. (David Jays)
AnneBrontë.org shares an 1853 Easter letter from Charlotte Brontë to Ellen Nussey, in which Charlotte declines a visit due to her duties as a vicar's daughter while also defending Lucy Snowe as a deliberately less idealized heroine than Jane Eyre.
by M.F. RabbiJournal of Pundra University of Science & Technology, Volume-4, Issue-1, January-2025 Issue, p. 61Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights is a classic piece of Gothic and Romantic literature from the 19th century, and its plot intricately integrates the characters’ psychological makeup with the physical surroundings. By examining how the geographical surroundings of Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange, in particular, both influence and are influenced by the inner lives and experiences of its residents, this study examines the notions of space and psychogeography in Wuthering Heights. By analyzing these two different settings, this paper makes the case that Brontë reflects social and individual divisions like freedom vs restriction, nature versus civilization, and passion versus repression through spatial dichotomies. According to this account, psychogeography studies how these landscapes function as active agents in the formation of characters’ identities and their intricate relationships rather than just serving as passive backgrounds. This study also looks at how Brontë’s book subverts conventional Victorian ideas of home and belonging by presenting a wild, surreal landscape that represents rebellious impulses and unwavering passions. Characters like Heathcliff and Catherine are depicted as symbols of the untamed and strange moor through the novel’s use of elemental forces, such as storms, winds, and isolation, which blur the lines between the internal and external worlds. This paper traces the influence of place as a dynamic, destabilizing force within Brontë’s fictional world and examines how Wuthering Heights embodies a proto-psychogeographic study that emphasizes the psychological impact of space on human behavior and identity through an analysis of spatial metaphors and imagery. In the end, this paper makes the case that Wuthering Heights’ psychogeographic elements help to depict a world ruled by wild forces and emotional extremes, providing a critique of Victorian social values through its radical reworking of spatial relationships.
by Ouana Alassane Sekongo, Université Félix Houphouët-Boigny, Côte d’IvoireZiglôbitha, Revue des Arts, Linguistique,Littérature & Civilisations Université, n°17, Vol.2 – Mars 2026In nineteenth-century England, Victorianism was an ideology based on the principle that men are more rational than women. As such, it divided the societyinto two distinct spheres, which were the private sphere for women and the public sphere for men. This paper aims to highlight that Brontë coins the character Jane, an educated and defiant girl who subverts these social norms and works hard to enterthe public space just as men. In addition to textual evidence, the article relies on Judith Butler’s (1990) theory of deconstructing gender norms in order to demonstrate how Brontë’s novel questions the Victorian gender system and opens doors for women to express themselves and reveal their talents. The study concludesthat after defying the ideology of Victorianism, Jane has not only got access to formaleducation, but also worked in the public sphere as a teacher. She, therefore, standsas a resilient an emergent girl, serving as a role model for 21st century women.
My favourite classic readsI was soon drawn to the Brontë sisters. It wasn’t just the books, of course, it was also their story. How could you not feel pity at their situation but also envy that they were able to share their writing with their siblings? I have a battered anthology of Jane Eyre,Wuthering Heights and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall right by my desk. Charlotte’s Jane Eyre will always call to me.The writing is deceptively simple but the story fascinating, if chilling, and the heroine, as in so many of their books, ahead of her time.
Chaque semaine, Cinémotions81, association de cinéphiles, vous proposera une programmation choisi par ses membres !Ce mois-ci sera consacré au cycle BRONTË, en partenariat avec l'association J'MLire"Les Soeurs Brontë" (1979, de Téchiné avec Isabelle Adjani, Marie-France Pisier et Isabelle Huppert)le mercredi 1er avril à 18h30le dimanche 05 avril à 14h"Emily" en VOSTFR (2022 avec Emma Mackey)mercredi 08 avril à 18hlundi 13 avril à 20h30mercredi 15 avril à 18hlundi 20 avril à 16h15"Les Hauts de Hurlevent" (2011 avec James Howson, Kaya Scodelario)mercredi 22 avril à 18h (en VF)lundi 27 avril à 20h30 (en VOSTFR)"Les Hauts de Hurlevent" (2026 avec Jacob Elordi, Margot Robbie)vendredi 24 avril à 18h (en VOSTFR) suivi d'un échange d'impressions avec J'MLire et soirée conviviale au bar de l'Apollo !mercredi 29 avril à 18h (VF)lundi 4 mai à 20h30 (VOSTFR)
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